Whereas the book “No Easy Day” was primarily about the mental discipline, focus, and training of the Navy SEAL team that went into Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, “The Finish — The Killing of Osama Bin Laden” recounts the intelligence and political actions leading up to the Abbottabad operation.

“The Finish” is not an action-packed tactical shoot-em-up thriller.  It is an account of what our government was doing to try and find, fix, and finish Osama bin Laden.  Though the book referred to F3EAD, it never explained the origin of that doctrine going back to the Korean war, nor did it explain the doctrine’s evolution.  F3EAD refers to find-fix-finish, exploit, analyze, and disseminate.  It is military shorthand for the US’s counterinsurgency doctrine.

An interesting side note is that because of newly-released movies such as “Zero Dark Thirty”, one of the CIA’s analysts was mentioned by pseudonym in both “No Easy Day” and “The Finish.”  In “No Easy Day” the analyst is a woman named “Jen.”  In “The Finish” the analyst is a man named “John.”

The book is interesting to read, and those who want some insight into the governmental processes that lead up to this type of tactical operation will get it.  Just recognize that it has been sanitized, and it is a bit self-serving.  Chapter 9, the final chapter, is appropriately titled “Glitter.”  It’s a pretty good summary of what politicians and their lackeys do to unnecessarily add “glitter” to a standalone stunning achievement.